FLASHBACK: Schumer Claims to Progressive Group He Led ‘Medicare for All’ Fight, But He Said in 2009 ‘We Can’t Do That’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) claimed Sunday he led the fight to push the Medicare for all health care reform in 2009, but the lawmaker told MSNBC in 2009 that "we can't do that" and if such a program was enacted, "we'd be broke."

During a strategy call with the progressive advocacy group MoveOn.org on Sunday, Schumer took a question about health care policy in the wake of the recent failed Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

"Are we going to try and get Medicare for all?" one caller asked. "I mean, that's the next logical step, I think, and that's what you guys were talking about, too."

"Actually, we tried to get Medicare for all rather than the ACA [Affordable Care Act] back in 2009," Schumer said. "I was one of the leaders to do it. People love Medicare. It's a more effective and efficient system, and it actually costs less than a lot of these quasi-public, quasi-private hybrids, and we're going to fight hard for it … It has a lot of support in our Democratic caucus."

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